The Thirst: First Flirtation (Book 2)
by Hazel Lea Tifiaeh
Summary: (Sequel to The Thirst: First Encounter) Since the fight between them Hannibal thinks Jade is dead. Jade however is very much alive and looking for revenge. But as a vampire she knows that sometimes the best revenge, is to not attack someone. Sometimes you have to slither your way into their lives, and take away something, or someone, they hold dear.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This story take's place around Fromage and after it during Season 1.**

**I do not own anyone from the show Hannibal, nor do I claim to own them.**

* * *

Jade blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision. When they were clear she noticed blue eyes staring at her. Then darkness came again.

Jade woke up again some time later. This time she saw blue eyes and a face, a face with shaggy black hair. The face seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. Then darkness.

This time when Jade woke up she heard something. A sound. A buzzing noise. No. Not Buzzing. Someone talking. A voice. She knew that voice. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Then the face was in her view again.

"Shh. Don't try talking yet. You throat hasn't healed all the way," the voice said.

Darkness.

The next time Jade woke up things were different. For one she actually recognized the person before her. Who of course was none other than Liam. And she had been able to sit up, and surprisingly she drank from someone on her own. Not a lot, but it was progress.

A day later she was doing better than before. However she was still unable to get out of bed. Not because she couldn't, but because Liam wouldn't let her.

"Are you ever gonna let me out of bed?" she asked.

"Of course, I just want to make..."

"You have been saying that for a while now. If I don't move my muscles I will.. fuck I don't even know. Maybe bash your head in."

"Well I see you got your charm back."

"Oh, bite me." She threw him a glare. "Will you just.." she started kicking him off her bed.

"Jade come on."

"No, I need to get up. Just... move your fat ass."

"Gasp!" he said in mock horror.

"Oh god not this again..." Jade slumped against her bed. She hated when Liam did this. Ok well maybe not hated, because it did make her laugh at times, but it could be annoying. Like right now. Right now it was annoying.

"How can you say my ass is fat.." He waved his hand in front of his face, pretending like he was fighting back tears. "I do a thousands squats a day to keep just my ass in shape," he said in the best girly voice he could muster.

"I..."

"Oh do shut up." In one last effort to get him off her bed Jade kicked him again, this time he actually fell off. "Finally!" She then swung her legs over the side of the bed. But she had to pause as she felt a little dizzy.

"Jade..." Liam started to say as he got up, but she just stopped him.

"I have to do this."

"Fine, but take it slow. Please." He offered her his hand.

At first she thought about slapping it away, but then she thought better. He was really trying to help. So she took his hand and slowly stood up. At first she wobbled some, but she had a feeling that was from having been in bed for weeks at a time. As much as she wanted to walk she knew better than to push herself. She had lost a lot of blood thanks to Hannibal and their little fight.

According to Liam by the time he had gotten her home she was almost stone, which is the a state purebloods go into when they enter eternal sleep or when they have suffered massive damage. It is like the vampire equivalent of a coma. A vampire's way of protecting their body while they recover or sleep.

So she just stood there for a while. Once she felt like she had regained her balance she let go of Liam's hand. Of course as soon as she did that she lost her balance and fell back onto the bed.

"Dammit!" She didn't understand why it was taking her so long to heal. Ok that was a lie. She knew very well why it was taking so long. It had been the spell she had done before the fight. It had wasted most of her energy. She had not been a hundred percent when she fought Hannibal, and now it was all catching up to her. Plus she hadn't had a proper feeding in bloody forever.

"I think I need to feed," she said softly.

"Alright I will go get..."

"No. I mean feed."

"Male or female."

"Female. That way I won't have to try and hold myself up..."

"I will be back shortly."

While Jade waited for Liam to get back her hand aimlessly rubbed her throat. Even though she didn't have a physical scar the emotional one was still there. Never in her life had a human gotten one over on her like that. And that excited and annoyed her at the same time. It excited her in the sense that clearly Hannibal was better than most people and serial killers. Hell the bastard hadn't even called out when she bit into him. She couldn't wait to see what that would mean when it came to playing games with him.

However, it also annoyed her. As a vampire she should have won that fight hands down. Hell she should have dominated that fight. Not only was he able to fight back and actually do damage to her, but she lost to him. Lost! A vampire never loses a fight to a bloody human! She couldn't wait until she was well enough to show Hannibal exactly what he had gotten himself into.

Feeling something warm and wet on her hands Jade looked down and noticed her palms were bleeding. Dammit. In her rage she had dug her nails into her hand so much that she cut little half moon shapes into her palms. She licked the blood off before letting her hands fall to the bed again. It wasn't long before she heard her front door open and the sound of someone giggling.

Leave it up to Liam to find the annoying giggly type. But whatever. She needed blood, and he was providing it for her. That was all that mattered.


	2. Night Out

A month after the fight Jade was walking around town, enjoying the evening air, when she noticed someone coming out of a building, someone that look rather familiar to her. So she stopped walking and watched, paying attention to the details of the man. It wasn't long before she realized the person was in fact Will. Smiling to herself she made her way over to him.

"Hey Will," she called out to him.

He seemed to look around confused for a moment before his eyes landed on her.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Uh.." he seemed to give an awkward chuckled. "Jade right?"

"That is correct." She smiled at him. "You look hungry? Wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Ya. Last time I checked that wasn't a crime. And if it is... well feel free to cuff me." She winked at him as she held her hands out, like she was waiting for him to cuff her.

"No, no. It's not a crime." He seemed to look around for a moment.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging."

"Well I just..."

"It's the least you could do, considering the whole Liam thing..."

Once Jade had started getting better Liam had informed her that Will had showed up again and apologized for accusing him of hurting the girls. Will had gone on to tell Liam they had caught the true attacker, after the guy had gone back and finished off the girl. Jade had been pleased to hear that Pandora had at least gotten that right.

"Alright, alright. I will go to dinner with you." He put his hands up in surrender.

She smiled at him before locking arms with him. He could feel that he was a bit uncomfortable, but she ignored it.

"So what's for dinner?" she asked.

"I thought you knew."

"Well, what would you like?"

"Fish."

"Awesome! Fish it is. Alright off the top of my head I can think of Hip Hop Fish & Chicken and Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet."

"Hibachi."

"Good choice. Let's go."

Jade finally figured she wouldn't get very far with Will if she was up in his personal space, so she left go of his arm and walked beside him. She noticed that he relaxed considerably after that.

"Hey your with law enforcement right?"

"I am a consultant with the FBI, yes." He gave her a look.

"I am just curious about that person the killed the trombonist. I mean.. that is some crazy stuff."

"He is dead actually."

"Oh wow. Can I ask how?"

"He attacked Doctor Lecter."

Jade tried not to react to that name, but she was finding it a bit hard.

"Is he ok? Lecter of course, not the killer."

"When I left him few minutes ago he was fine."

"Woah, hold up." She held her arm out to stop him. "That is where you just came from?"

"Yes?"

"Look I enjoy fish and all you can eat buffets just as much as the next person. But he is your friend right? Shouldn't you... I don't know, be with him?"

Jade watched as he seemed to think about it. "Look I just know if I was attacked by a killer, I would want to be with the people I care about. You feel me?"

He made a noise of uncertainty. "No, I... don't feel you."

"Cut a girl some slack, it's the way I talk." She smiled at him. She was a bit surprised when he smiled back.

He seemed to look up and down the street they had been walking on, like he was contemplating whether he wanted to go back or if he wanted to go with her.

"It's getting late, I am sure he just wants to rest," he finally said.

"True. Rest is always a good thing." She nodded. They then continued to make their way to Hibachi.

A part of Jade wanted to dump Will and go after Hannibal. If he had just been attacked he would be weak. While she on the other hand was at full strength, well almost. Better than what she was the first time they fought. But no. As a vampire she knew other ways of getting revenge. One was getting close to people they cared about and ripping them away from them. She wasn't sure if Hannibal was capable of actually caring about someone, but from the little she had seen of the two he seemed intrigued by Will. So that was where she was going to start: with Will.

Once they entered the buffet they had a brief argument over who was to pay. Jade insisted that she should pay for herself, while Will claimed that even though this wasn't a date, as a gentleman, he would pay. In the end she finally gave in and let him pay, but only because she got tired of arguing.

"Man there is a lot of fish here," Jade said as she looked over all the selections.

"Do you not like fish?"

"No, I like it. It's just been a while. Plus... lot of fish." Her eyes got wide for a moment before she looked at him. "Do you have any suggestions?" she asked with a smile. Not that it really mattered to her. Her taste buds were dead so normal human food provided no flavor.

"Well ah.. what do you like?"

"Steak."

Will chuckled. "I think they actually have steak here..."

"No, I was just playing."

"I won't mind if you have steak. Fish isn't for everyone."

"You know, I think I might just go for the steak. it feels like a beef kind of night."

They separated for a few moments as they went and got their plates. They then rejoined before walking over to a table that was looking out a window.

Jade had to stifle a chuckle as Will looked at her two plates of food. On one plate Jade had the rib-eye steak, a baked potato, and a salad. On the other plate she had grilled salmon, a cup of lemon zest, and a vegetable medley.

"I didn't realize you were so hungry."

"I didn't either until I was waiting for my steak to be cooked. And since this is not a date I figured, eh what the heck." She smiled.

At one point when Will was cutting his salmon his knife slipped and it cut his fingers.

"Shit." He hisses as he dropped it onto the table.

Jade tried her best to keep her fangs from extending, but it was no use. She then noticed a few drops had fallen on her plate. She swiped her fingers across the plate before quickly licking the blood off. As she did so she closed her eyes for a moment to savor the taste of Will Graham.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she opened her eyes. She noticed that he was trying to cover the cut with some napkins. "Here take mine." She offered hers to him, which he quickly accepted. A part of her deeply wanted to take his finger and suck the blood from it. But she knew better. Not only would he probably be freaked out over the incident, but he would then be curious as to why his finger would be healed by the time they left the Grill.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I think I should go. Before I make a mess everywhere."

"No problem. Rain check?"

"Uh sure..." He then got up and left.

Jade sat at the table a moment trying to collect herself before she too stood up and left the restaurant.


	3. Liam Wants Revenge

Days had past since Jade last saw Will and even though she should spend her time trying to figure out how to get close to him she wasn't. No, she was currently at a club grinding her body against the bodies of several other people as they danced to the music. Jade loved to dance. She always felt so free as she moved her body to the music. Like she could just let everything go and be one with the beat.

As the song switched to a slower one she weaved her way through the crowd, not wanting to get stuck dancing with anyone. Making her way over to the bar she tried to order a drink but was having no luck. There were too many people and the music was too loud. In fact as she looked around she noticed there was a considerably larger amount of people in the club than when she had first showed up. Maybe too many. It was starting to feel a bit suffocating. Growling to herself she made her way out of the club.

Once outside she closed her eyes and took a moment for herself. Sometimes she wished she could breath just so she could have the satisfaction of taking a deep breath of the cold winter air. As she opened her eyes she noticed snow was now covering the ground, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She was tempted to melt it, but opted against it.

Making her way away from the club she decided tonight would be a good night for a hunt. With everything that had happened a month back Jade and Liam had been very careful with their feeding. If they did drain the bodies Jade would burn them and scatter the ashes to the wind. More often than not though they never took enough to kill someone.

Jade was wondering around town when she picked up on something familiar. She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she noticed it. Following the path of whatever it was she soon found herself coming upon a rather large, fancy looking house. Of course off to the side was Liam hiding behind a tree. Curious to know what he was up to she made her way towards him silently. It wasn't until she was directly behind him that she spoke.

"Who are we stalking?" she asked, causing him to jump.

"Jesus christ, Jade!" he hissed. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Why? You do it all the time. You're avoiding my question."

"No, I am not. I am just choosing not to answer it."

"And why not?"

"Hey I don't have to answer to you." He finally turned around to face her.

"Hey jerk. It is just a simple question. What is the big deal?"

"None of your business!" he spat.

She slapped him across the face then. "I don't know what your problem is but keep your temper in check," she growled, which he returned.

She was about to say something when she heard a car coming up so she turned from him to see who it was. They both watched silently as the car drove up and parked. She tilted her head to the side as the car door, followed by the door of the house opened. She was surprised to see Will getting out of the car before a familiar accented voice sounded from the doorway of the house.

"Hello, Will," Hannibal said in the distance.

Jade growled as she turned towards Liam. "What are you doing _here_?"

"I had to do something. He should pay for what he did to you!"

"If anyone is going to get revenge it's going to be _me! _Not you!"

"But..." But she just punched him in the jaw, causing him to spin to the ground. Before he could get up she jumped on his chest and laid into him before something caught her ear.

"Did you just hear something?" Will asked.

They were still outside. Why hadn't they gone in? She quickly placed her hand over Liam's mouth to keep him quiet. Unfortunately with her anger she had caused the snow around them to melt. Something that could catch Will or Hannibal's notice if they came over for a closer look, and then they would be noticed. Jade's ear twitched as Hannibal spoke.

"I did not hear anything. Please come in. The hot air is leaving my house," he said.

A moment later Jade heard the door closing. As soon as she did she turned her attention back to Liam again. Before she could do anything though she was shoved to the side and Liam was standing up.

"He needs to die Jade."

"Not by _your _hands," she said as she stood up and brushed herself off. "I get it Liam, really I do. But this one is mine. Plain and simple. Now go home." She shoved him in a direction away from the house and was glad to see him continue on that way. She waited in the shadows for a few minutes, to make sure Liam wasn't coming back, before she left.

Jade proceed with her original plan of finding someone to feed from before she made her way home. As she walked home she thought about Liam. How had he known where Hannibal lived? She hadn't even had the chance to figure that out. The logical answer was he probably followed Hannibal home at some point. Something she should have thought of. But that wasn't the main problem. Could she keep Liam for taking _her _revenge? She wanted to think so, but she couldn't be too sure. Liam was rather protective of her, and Hannibal had hurt her badly. So it's no wonder that he wants to kill him. But she doesn't want Hannibal dead, at least not yet. Frowning to herself she gave up thinking about it and entered her home before locking the door behind her.


	4. The Date

A few weeks had gone by and surprisingly Jade and Will had spent quite a bit of time together. They mostly had casual outings , as that was more comfortable for him. But they had also gone on a few dates. She had been surprised, among other things, when he had asked her to attend a small party at Hannibal's house. At first she had been unsure, as she didn't think she was ready for Hannibal to know she was alive. However the more she thought about it the more she thought it was a good idea. This way Hannibal couldn't try anything against her.

That was why she was currently standing in front of a mirror, checking herself out. She was wearing a little black dress that showed enough chest to be flirty, but not so much it would be trashy. Her natural curly hair hung in loose ringlets. She also had on two inch heels and carried a silver clutch to match her smokey eyeshadow. She looked herself over one last time before she heard the doorbell.

Leaving her bedroom Jade made her way to the front door. She brushed herself off one last time before slowly opening the door to reveal a very handsome looking Will on the other side. She smiled at him.

"Wow." He look stunned. Something that made her smile even more.

"Well don't you look handsome."

"You look," he paused. "Beautiful."

"Thank you. Are we ready?"

"Oh. Yes, do you have everything you need?"

"I do." She smiled as she walked out of her house, locking the door behind her.

Will walked with her to his car before he opened the door for her. Something that took her by surprise. It had been a while since a man had been chivalrous with her. Once she was in he quickly made his way around to the driver's side.

The ride to Hannibal's house was quiet. Jade was unsure what to say because her body was humming with emotions. Her hands clenched into fists with her annoyance, but her legs bounced with excitement. She was also chewing her lip with nervousness.

After they pulled up to Hannibal's house Will paused before getting out of the car.

"Are you ok?"

"Huh? Ya why do you ask?"

"Well for one your knees is bouncing rather quickly and you lips are red from chewing on them."

"Oh," she said defeated.

"I guess I just don't see where I belong here? These people are all.. sophisticated, and educated and crap. I am nothing like them."

"I am sorry you feel that way, but I understand. Would you rather I take you back home."

"No, I think I will be fine. I want to do this for you." She turned and smiled at him. She then nodded, letting him know she was ok. He smiled back before leaving the car and going around to open her door. When she got out of the car however a shiver ran up her spin.

"Are you cold?" Will asked.

"No. Just one of those random chills." She offered a fake smile, and he seemed to buy it. As they walked across the property to Hannibal's house Jade scanned the area. There was only one way she could feel the cold, and that was if Liam was behind it. She had to wonder if he was here. God she hoped not. She was sure she had made it clear to him to leave Hannibal alone. So what was he doing here?

Jade didn't get the chance to contemplate it much more as they walked into the house. For a moment she was surprised by the grandness of it all. Then she remember whose house it was.

She tried to ignore all the people that were looking at her but it was hard. On top of that she was still worried as to why exactly Liam was here. Did he need her for something? She should have taken the time to figure it out.

She snapped her head around as she felt someone grab her hand and noticed it was none other than Will's. Relaxing some she looked up and smiled at him. In the corner of her eyes she saw someone walking up. Facing the person she had to hide the smirk that was trying to break onto her lips. The fun had just begun.

"Will, I am so glad you could make it. And you brought..." he paused and in that moment she saw it. "Miss Moretti, what a pleasant surprise." He finished like nothing was wrong.

It was just a flash, but she had seen it nonetheless. The look of sheer panic when you realize the person you thought you killed was in fact very much alive. It had flashed in Hannibal's eyes for a moment. Something that brought her great joy. Her plan was working. She could also see it in his mind. He was wondering what she was doing here, alive, and standing next to Will. She notice his eyes skip down to her neck for a moment. He was wonder why she didn't bear a scar from when he sliced a knife across her throat.

"Please, didn't I ask you to call me Jade," she said sweetly.

"My apologizes. Welcome to my home. I hope you find the food to your liking."

Jade was almost tempted to make a snarky comment, but instead she bit her tongue. She didn't want to ruin this. Not when she had both Hannibal and Will where she wanted them.

"If you two men will excuse me I think I will have a look around." She smiled before walking away from both of them, ignoring the look Hannibal had given her.

She was wandering around the general area, keeping a close eye on Will, who was still talking to Hannibal, when something caught her notice. She turned in the direction of the smell and noticed a waiter near by with a tray of food. Cocking her head to the side she slowly made her way over to him. Smiling sweetly she picked something up off the tray. It was some kind of meat treat, but the thing that was catching her attention was the smell of the meat. It didn't smell like any animal. At least not any normal animal. In fact it smelled very much like... her eyes widen and she turned in the direction of Hannibal. His maroon eyes locked with her blue ones. She could tell he knew what she had discovered. This meat, it wasn't animal. This was human.


	5. Hannibal's Party

Hannibal was in his kitchen, an apron around his waist, as he prepared the food that would be served at tonights dinner. He sliced, diced, and minced all the while he was boiling, cooking, and steaming. He moved swiftly between his dishes as he made sure everything was perfect for tonight. Earlier in the day he had asked Will to attend this dinner, he had been pleasantly surprised when Will had asked if he could bring a guest. He was curious as to who he would bring. He didn't think it was Abigail, as he would have said so. But Will had yet to mention someone in his life during their sessions. Shaking it off he once again turned his attention to the food.

Everything had to be perfect. The flavors and textures had to be in sync, otherwise it would fall apart. Everything had to be cooked all the way through, for he would not allow someone to get sick from something that was undercooked. But he also had to be careful not to overcook anything either. Once all that was done he stepped into his wine cellar to pick out the one that would be perfect with tonights meats.

After that Hannibal then made his way to his room to get ready for tonight.

* * *

Hannibal was talking to a young lady when something caught his attention in the corner of his eyes. Looking in the direction he noticed Will walking in with a stunning looking woman. She seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't see her face clearly as she was looking at something else. Finding a pause in the conversation he was taking part in he excused himself and made his way over to Will.

"Will, I am so glad you could make it. And you brought..." he paused, taking a good look at the girl; his heart stopped for a moment. It was Jade. "Miss Moretti, what a pleasant surprise."

"Please, didn't I ask you to call me Jade," she said sweetly.

"My apologizes. Welcome to my home. I hope you find the food to your liking."

Hannibal could not believe it. How was it possible? He had killed her, he was sure of it. He remembered very well sliding the blade in his hand across her neck. She had lost a lot of blood, there should be no way for her to be standing here right now. And with Will. Why was she with Will? His eyes shifted quickly to her neck. There was no scar, no sign of what he had done to her in the alley.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Jade excused herself to look around. Everything in him wanted to follow Jade. To figure out what she was doing here, but his attention was turned to Will as he spoke.

"I hope you don't mind," Will said.

"Of course not, Will. I am a little surprised though. You never mentioned that you two were close."

Will eyes flickered to Jade; she was looking at one of Hannibal's paintings. "We are taking things slow. I wanted to figure this out on my own. I can't always run to you can I?"

"You are my friend, Will. You are allowed to come to me when you need me. I have told you my door is always open to friends."

They talked for a bit longer before Hannibal made his way around the room again, talking to other people. He was talking to one gentlemen when he felt something... off. He wasn't sure what exactly, but he could feel it. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on Jade. She had one of his meat hors d'œuvres in her hand. He knew right away that she had figured it out. She knew the meat wasn't animal as the others believed. That it was in fact human. He turned away from her then to finish his conversation. He wasn't surprised when moments later Will showed up at his side and told him that they were leaving. Will implied that Jade didn't feel well, but he had a feeling that Jade said no such thing, rather she had said something else to convince him to leave.

"Very well, I will see you soon, Will." He nodded to him before turning his attention elsewhere.

* * *

Once the party was over and everything was cleaned up Hannibal made his way, not to bed, to his study. He had a few books laid out on his desk, along with his tablet. He had a theory about Jade. He wasn't sure why it came to him tonight and not before, but it had. He believed her to be a vampire. It was odd to admit such a thing, even to himself. But he had seen first hand her shoulder wound heal after she had taken blood from him during the fight. He knew of nothing else that would do that. The problem was he knew almost nothing about vampires. Which was why he was addressing that issue now. He would research every piece of information he can find on them: every reference and every cross-reference will be carefully scrutinized. He wanted to be prepared if he ever come across Jade's true self again.


	6. At the Office

Hannibal was in his office waiting for his next scheduled appointment. As he waited he found himself once again on his tablet looking into as much as he could about vampires. The problem was he could not verify the veracity of any of it. Several sources might corroborated certain pieces of information but others might contradict it. The truth could only come from Jade; but simple questions would fail to give him true answers. He had seen Jade a few times since his get together, but he had never talked with her or anything like that. He had only see her in public places, the markets and the like.

Glancing at his watch he noticed the time. His appointment should be here. Shutting down his tablet he stood up and straighten himself out. He then made his way over to the door. When he opened the door however, he was surprised to see Jade standing on the other side of it, and not his patient.

"Jade, I was not expecting you."

She seemed to smirk at that.

"I wanted to see where you worked," she said as she brushed past him to walk into his office.

Although he was slightly annoyed Hannibal had no choice but to close the door.

"And the state of my patient…?" he started to ask.

"Oh, your little guest out there... let's just say it was snack time." She gave him a fanged smile.

"Jade..." he said with both warning and shock.

Why was she acting this way around him? Had she figured out that he suspected the truth. Or had she just given up on keep a facade around him?

"Don't worry, doc, your patient is still alive, and with all of their blood still in their body. They will just have to reschedule," she said dryly as she moved, glancing around his office.

There it was again. She was all but admitting to being a vampire, without actually saying the words.

"Nice office you have here, _doctor._" She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, a noise that bothered him.

"Is there a reason for that?"

"For what?" She finally turned to look at him.

"You slur "doctor" as if it is an insult."

"Oh, do I? I was not aware." She smirked before poking around some more.

"You are wasting my time, Jade. You have barged into my office, and I find that rather rude," he snapped with his eyes narrowed.

"Oh ho." She turned to him again. "Someone is getting bitchy. I like it." She sighed and rolled her eyes before walking over to him. In one quick motion she grabbed his tie and used it to pull him close. "This was lovely, we _must_ do it again sometime," she said in a snarky tone. "Now give us a kiss." She kissed the air in front of him before letting him go and walking out of the room.

Hannibal breathed through his nose, his jaw slightly clenched. After a moment he took the time to fix his tie, smoothing it down and straightening himself up. He moved to close the door that Jade had left open before he paused for a moment. She had clearly said give _us_ a kiss. _Us_. Not _me_. That was the second time she had said that too. How peculiar. Shaking it off he closed the door and walked over to his desk again.

In the short time she had been here Jade had managed to annoy, surprise, and intrigue him. So much so that he was beginning to wonder how he could integrate himself into her life. He was tired of trying to research what she really was, it could never verify what the truth was; he wanted to see it. Dare he say it, but she was beginning to grow on him. Though he would still be on his guard, for she also knew his secrets, but maybe he wouldn't have to get rid of her. Of course if the opportunity presented itself he still might end her. He certainly didn't _trust_ her; no, he was entertained by her, she was a unique amusement.

But he would definitely have to get her away from Will. He hadn't really noticed it before, but he could practically feel Will pulling away from him. Whether she was doing it on purpose or not did not matter. All that mattered was the fact that he had to put a stop to it.

Going over to his calendar Hannibal checked to see when his next appointment was. It would be in several hours. Maybe he could spare some time and go after Jade. See if he couldn't find some common ground with her, some way to put his plan into motion. Grabbing his coat he headed for the door. When he opened it however he was greeted by brown hair. The person turned around then.

"Miss me, _doctor_?" Jade smirked.


	7. Lunch At Will's

Jade had done a fair job of sneaking up to the door of Will's house, the only problem was that now that she was here at his door she hesitated. Having a BBQ had been her idea sure, but she hadn't planned on it happening at Will's house. Usually she wouldn't care about such things, however she had worked hard to become Will's "girlfriend" in order to get her revenge on Hannibal. She just didn't want to risk anything happening that screwed it up.

"Oh hell," she grumbled to herself. She was about to turn around when she heard barking from inside the house. She froze. He had dogs. Oh hell no. Dogs could mean bad business for her, with their stupid heightened senses and shit.

Jade made her way down the stairs when she heard the door open followed by her name. Cussing to herself she slowly turned around, plastering a smile on her face.

"Were you leaving?" he asked.

"Uh no. Just uh... dogs. I didn't know you had dogs."

"Is that a problem?"

"Psh... na. I love dogs." She lied. But on the inside she was dying. "Just you know... meat.." She held up the plate she was holding. "Just wanted to put some distance between myself and the dogs incase they ran out and tackled me or something." This was hell. She had finally died the final death and she was now in hell. It was the only way to explain how she would be so unlucky as to be dating the guy with dogs. Not cats, or rabbits, or hell even snakes, but fucking dogs.

"They will behave I promise. Come on in."

She nodded and made her way back up the stairs.

"I didn't hear you come up."

"I uh... had Liam drop me off a ways back and I walked the rest. No biggy." But she could feel something in his thoughts. He was unsure of how she was talking. Always pausing and saying uh. She had to pull herself together or this was going to fail.

"I'm sorry Will, I guess I am just a little nervous being here is all."

"Are you afraid to be alone with me?"

"Yes. No! No. Not because of you. Because of what I... how I feel when I am with you." She blushed and looked away.

"And how do you feel?"

"I uh.. we should probably get started..." she went to walk past him but he just held arm out and stopped her.

Jade just stood there, waiting to see what he would do. It wasn't long before he wrapped his arm around her waist. He took a step closer to her before gently kissing her on the lips. She smiled into the kiss before deepening it some, but they didn't get too far as one of the dogs growled then. When they broke the kiss she shot the dog a glare before smiling at Will.

"That was better than I thought it would be," she said softly.

"Did you think it was going to be bad?"

"No, I always pictured it being good. But it was still better than what I pictured."

"You pictured us kissing?"

"Among other things." She smirked. "Come on, I'm starving. And this isn't going to cook itself." She lifted the bag of steaks she had brought.

Will took the bag from her and made his way into what she would assume was the kitchen, but she took a moment before turning to face all of this dogs and growl. They all seemed to hunch back then, as they were finally aware of the fact that she was the apex predator and was not to be messed with. She then followed Will into the kitchen.

* * *

Since it was cold and there was snow outside they had opted to eat inside the house, unlike a normal BBQ. They were having a good time talking and laughing while enjoying their lunch, but something kept bothering Jade. She could smell something, she wasn't sure what though. It wasn't like anything she had really smelled before, so she knew it wasn't food or anything like that. Finally getting annoyed about not being able to figure it out Jade stood up from the table, which seemed to surprise Will.

"Something wrong?"

"No, just have to use the restroom. It's..." She spun her finger around until he pointed in the direction for her. Smiling she walked in that direction.

Of course as soon as she was out of the kitchen she made her way quickly and quietly around his house, trying to find where that blasted smell was coming from. But she was having no luck. Giving up she then made her way back into the kitchen and was surprised when she almost ran into Will, who was coming out.

"There you are."

"Sorry. I wanted to make sure I was fresh before coming back out." She smiled at him.

"That's fine. I was thinking we could go for a walk." He moved past her to go to the door and that was when it hit her. It was him. The smell was coming from Will.

She closed her eyes and drew in everything around her. Quickly her mind categorized every scent. She quickly filtered out and dismissed all the familiar ones before she came across a few that should not be there. Most of them were from a chemical mixture, something that made her frown and really bothered her. The last thing, she couldn't put a name to it, but it smelt wrong, and sickening.

"Jade?"

Her eyes snapped open as she heard Will's voice.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude." She said softly. "As much as I would enjoy a walk I actually have to go see a doctor about something." Ya Doctor Lecter.

"Oh, is everything ok?"

"I believe so. But it doesn't hurt to check you know."

"Of course. I will see you around?"

"Course. Maybe next time we will have dinner at my place. Just you and me."

"What about Liam?"

"Only if he promises to behave." She smirked.

Will chuckled, causing her to smile.

"Goodbye Jade."

"Catcha later, lover." She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips before walking out the door.


	8. Confronting Hannibal

Fueled with anger Jade made her way over to Hannibal's office as soon as she left Will's house. She figured if Hannibal wasn't there she would then hunt him down to his house. And she would keep hunting him until she found him.

She wasn't sure why she was mad about what she had learned, Hannibal was a killer after all. It shouldn't surprise her that he was allowing Will's brain to cook as it were. She also didn't know why she cared, other than the fact that maybe she was slowly starting to like Will. He was awkward and cute, and more importantly human and not some psycho.

Jade stopped for a moment and looked around to get her bearings. In her anger she wasn't paying all that much attention to where she was, but she was surprised to find that she was close to Hannibal's office. Growling to herself she picked up her pace, and once she hit the stairs she took them two at a time. Making her way into the building she paused only long enough to make sure he wasn't with someone before turning the knob and throwing the door open.

"What are you doing to him?!" Jade shouted as she stormed over to him.

He was currently standing over next to a small cabinet that he closed as soon as he had heard, or seen her.

"What do you mean?" he asked turning towards her.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, Hannibal. I can smell it, the chemicals, not to mention his brain. You can't tell me you don't. If you are the kind of killer I think you are, I know you can smell it too."

"I think you are mistaken."

"Oh ho ho ho." She laughed. "Hannibal the cannibal. You think I wouldn't figure it out? I am not stupid like the little lambs you surround yourself with. Do you just plan on letting him die? Is that it?"

"How is that any different from your plans?"

"I never said I was going to kill him. I was just using him. Using him to _get to you_. He is just a pawn in my game, sure. But at least I am not heartless enough to just let him die."

She was surprised when he backhanded her. Ok so she must have pushed the right buttons. Turning to face him again she returned the favor. He went to hit her with a right hook but she just ducked under it before kicking him in the chest, sending him flying back. In a flash she was in front of him, holding onto his shirt and ready to punch him, but she paused.

"You're not worth it." She let him go. "Not this time. It's not worth it." With that she spun on her heels and walked out of his office.

The problem was as she stood outside on the sidewalk she wasn't feeling any better about the situation. She need to shed blood, and lots of it. Preferably someone that she could also beat to a bloody pulp. She needed to hunt, but not for food. No, she needed to release the beast that was inside her, the vampire's true nature. She didn't want to do it in town however.

So pulling her cell phone out of her pocket she called Liam. In no time he was there in some kind of SUV, she wasn't sure which model specifically as they all looked the same to her. He probably stole it from somewhere. They then headed to Ashburn in silence, or at least it had started out in silence.

"You going to tell me what is wrong?" Liam asked.

"Nope."

"Come on, Jade I can feel your anger from all the way over here. Not to mention if this car get's any warmer it's going to start melting."

"Just shut up and drive," she snapped.

Halfway to Ashburn they pulled the car over and got out. It wouldn't be smart to take it all the way and possibly get caught. From there they used a combination of vampire speed and magic to get the rest of the way to their destination.

Once they got into town Jade wasted no time going into the nearest little shop, making sure to lock the door behind Liam. She was excited to feel that at least ten people were in the little shop. Turning to Liam she smiled to him.

"Cover the exits, my love," she said sweetly to him.

He nodded and made his way to the back exit, ignore the workers yelling at him that he was not allowed.

She then whispered a few words that caused all the blinds and shutters to close. She didn't need anyone peeking in and seeing what she was about to do.

* * *

Ten bodies later Jade slid down a blood covered wall as she looked at the scene before her. Bodies, or at least parts of bodies, were all over the place. Things had been knocked to the floor and almost every inch of the little shop was covered in blood. Hell even she was covered in blood. Her hands shook as she ran them through her mess of hair. It wasn't long before Liam was in her line of sight.

"Jade, we should go, before someone shows up."

She blinked a couple times before looking up at him. It took her a while for what he said to click but soon she nodded her head in agreement. He then helped her to her feet.

"You mire girl," he whispered as they made their way to the back of the shop. "We need to get you glanadh up before we go home. I will rent a motel room, you just keep in the shadows."

She didn't answer. She just walked with him and did as he told. When they got to a ratty motel she hid in the shadows, staying out of sight. After he got a room they silently walked to it before going in. Once inside Liam told Jade to go take a shower, which she did. While she was washing up he had gone out and gotten her some new clothes.

After the shower Jade felt loads better and seemed to be more herself. Once she was dressed and ready to go Liam left ahead of her to check out. Once he was done with that they then made their way back home.


	9. The Truth Comes Out

**Note: In light of tonights final episode of the season I am giving you the next chapter early! As a gift! Yay! Luckily I finished it in time and so I was able to do this. :) I hope you all enjoy it. Have a nice night. **

* * *

Jade had been pleasantly surprised when Will had called her up on day and asked if she wanted to have dinner. She agreed and they had decided to do it at her house.

The day of the dinner was upon them and Jade was currently having trouble getting Liam to be ok with it.

"I am just having dinner with one human. It is _no_ big deal," Jade said dryly.

"Why? Why would you allow such a filthy creature into your home?" Liam asked.

"He is not a rat Liam."

"He may as well be."

"What is the real problem here? The fact that I am having dinner _with_ a human, instead of having him _for_ dinner."

"Yes. This charade has gone on long enough. Just eat him and move on."

"Look if you don't like it then don't be here! Now if you excuse me I have to go buy food that looks like I cooked it!" She then proceed to shove him out her door before grabbing her things and leaving as well.

* * *

Everything was ready for dinner, all that was missing was Will. Jade took the time she spent waiting for him to finish freshen up her house and herself. Once the clock hit 8 she heard her doorbell. Smiling to herself she made her way to the door and opened it.

"Hello, Will." She smiled. "Please, come in." She moved to the side so he could walk in.

They talked for a few moment before Jade showed him into her dinner room where the food was ready. As they ate dinner they talked and laughed, enjoying the moment. When they were both done Jade gathered up their plates.

"Why don't you head into the entertainment room and I will meet you there," She said. She then proceeded into the kitchen.

However as she was putting things away something caught her ear. Then a smell greeted her nose. Dropping the plates to the ground she ran toward the direction of Will. As soon as she entered the room she growled. For there was Liam, with a body on her pool table, that he was _still_ drinking from.

"What the..." Will said.

Liam looked up then and growled, blood dripped from his mouth, his fangs showing.

Jade acted quickly and jumped in front of Will's line of sight.

"It's not what it looks like Will."

"You... you eat people." Will said with a look of disgust.

"No, no we don't." Jade said trying to calm him down.

"Yes, you do! He is eating her!"

"It's not like that Will."

"She right. We actually drink their blood."

"Liam!" She turned and shot him a glare.

"Oh, thats so much better."

"Will, let me explain..."

"What are you?"

"Vampires."

"Pentru numele lui Dumnezeu Liam!" She turned to him again. "Nu mă face să _put a spell_ pe tine," she said mixing Romanian and English.

"Teacht ar Jade, he is just a lamb waiting for the slaughter. Quit acting like you care!"

It was then that Will started to back away from them, stumbling as he went.

"Will..." Jade tried for sweetness and understanding but he was already gone.

Growling she turned her attention to Liam. She moved over to him and threw him away from the body. In a flash she was standing above him, hitting him with everything she was had.

"What part of "I am having a human over" did you not understand?!" she screamed at him.

"I thought you meant we would have the humans as dinner. Not that we would we having dinner with them!" he shouted back as he blocked her punches.

"Don't play innocent! I told you I was having him over!"

At one point when she was in between punches he landed a kick on her chest, sending her stumbling back. Liam stood up then and held his arm out before she could attack him again.

"You do realize he is probably going to the cops."

Jade froze. As pissed as she was at Liam, he was right. The chances of Will going to the cops was too high. They needed to follow him.

"Let's go."

"Why am I going?"

"'Cause clearly I can't trust you!" She shouted.

They left her house quickly so they could easily pick up Will's trail. They were relieved to note the trail didn't lead toward the police, that meant less hassle. But that still didn't mean anything. From what she knew Will could easily be going straight to Jack's house.

However Jade was both surprised and annoyed to find that Will had gone to Hannibal's house.

"Good, they're together. Now we can kill them both and get it over with."

"_We_ are _not_ going to kill them," she growled.

"Fine I'll do it."

"Liam!" She reached out to grab him but he was too fast. "La naiba. Naibii de Liam," Cursing to herself she quickly followed him.

She found herself chasing Liam through Hannibal's house until they went through a set of sliding double wood doors. She paused a moment to look at the room they were in and the scene before her. They appeared to be in a dining room, with a long wooden table in the middle spanning almost the entire length of the room. Will was in a chair and he appeared to be staring off in space, like he wasn't even aware of what was going on. And Hannibal was standing in front of Will, trying to protect him from Liam.

Thinking quickly she pointed to Liam. "Congelo!" she shouted.

She slumped her shoulders in relief to see that the spell had worked.

"How did you get into my house?" Hannibal asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought vampires needed to be invited in."

"Someone's been watching too much Buffy," she grumbled. "Sorry to burst your bubble but that only works on halflings and lower. I'm a pureblood, baby."

"I can not let you kill him."

"I am not here to kill him. You," she pointed to him. "On the other hand." She smirked. "So you've done some research."

"Once I found out you were still alive I had to look into what you are."

She clapped. "Well congratulations for being one of the few humans to not only survive a vampire fight but also live long enough to do research. Bravo."

Hannibal seemed to ignore that part. "Why don't you want to kill him?"

She shrugged.

"Do you love him?"

"I am a creature of the underworld. I can't afford to love. Do you?"

He ignored her again. "I am curious as to why you don't want to kill him."

"Not every vampire is like my brother. Some of us can refrain from killing everyone we meet. Though I do have to admit. According to vampire law he should be put to death, as should you. Since you both know about us."

"But yet here we are, very much alive."

"That could easily be fixed."

"You say that, but yet you stopped Liam from doing just that."

"If anyone is to kill you it is going to be me. I am the one that exposed us, so it is my duty to finish you." She walked over to Liam then, just in case he broke her spell.

"Why don't you?"

"I am beginning to wonder if you _want_ me to." She turned her eyes to Hannibal then.

"Of course not."

"I will leave you two be, but I will have to keep an eye on Will. Make sure he doesn't try telling anyone."

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Hannibal looked to Will, who was still staring off in space. "How can you be so sure that I won't tell anyone?"

"You, doctor, have a reputation. You won't go running around talking about things that don't exist." She then whispered something in Liam's ear before snapping her fingers. In a puff of smoke Liam disappeared. She then silently made her way out of Hannibal's house.


	10. Laying Low

Jade spent the next several days by herself. She did not talk to Liam, Will, or Hannibal. Furthermore no cops showed up at her house, which to her meant that either Hannibal had somehow convinced Will not to go to them, or there was something more at play. As soon as she had gotten home that night she disposed of the body and cleaned up the mess of blood and broken dishes in her kitchen. After that she had gone to bed.

She had spent her alone time not doing much, or at least not leaving the house much. She had done quite a bit, like working out, rearranging her entire house, and even studying and practicing magic. However she was getting annoyed staying cooped up in her house the whole day. It was getting to the point that she was ordering take out just to feed from the delivery guy or girl.

Giving up she decided to leave her house, but when she opened the door she was rather displeased to find that there was still snow on the ground. She hated snow. It was wet and it made things a little difficult. Like apparently people don't deliver food when there is a snow storm going on. Babies.

Jade made her way to a local bookstore. She wasn't entirely sure why. It just seemed to call to her. It had been a while since she had bought a book. Even though it wasn't something that would be associated with her Jade rather enjoyed reading. Especially vampire books. She loved seeing what other people thought of her kind and she found it funny how _wrong_ they got it sometimes. So she weaved her way through the aisles until she came upon Anne Rice. Of all the vampire books Jade loved her the most. Sure she got something things wrong, but as a whole Anne came pretty close to writing about the truth. So much so that often times Jade wondered if Anne had gotten her information from an actual vampire. She had never heard one way or the other, but then again most vampire tried to stay away from her.

Finally deciding on one Anne Rice book she also picked up a couple others from a few other authors. As she was standing in the checkout she was staring out the window aimlessly, not paying attention to the people walking by. That was until a very familiar clean cut looking man walked by the window.

Jade's eyes went wide as she watched the man stop and turn to look in the window. She groaned and grumbled as she watched the man turn and head for the door.

"Oh hell no. Fuck this," she said to herself. She dug in her pocket and threw money at the register. "I am buying these. Have a nice day!" She stepped out of line and was making her way to the back when a hand took hold of her arm. She stopped but didn't turn around. "If you don't remove your hand from my arm I will rip it off," she growled.

"Jade, please." Hannibal sounded a bit irritated, nonetheless he still let her arm go.

She finally turned to him then. "What?"

"I hope you realize that Will does not remember what happened that night. He has no idea why you are hiding from him."

"Fute," she grumbled. "Who says I am hiding? He knows where I live."

"He said he stopped by couple times but you never answered."

It was true there were a few times Jade had heard someone knock, and occasionally ring the doorbell, and she had ignored it.

"If you know what's good for you and if you know what's good for Will, then the both of you will stay _away._" She then turned and left out the back door.

As she walked home she thought about this. It wasn't Will or even stupid Hannibal's fault. Truthfully it was a mixture of fault between Jade and Liam. Jade should have been more careful and should have never let Hannibal see the true her during their fight. She also should have just left after that, but no she had been hell bent on revenge. And now poor Will was involved, even if he didn't remember it. Maybe she could fix it. She wasn't quite ready to leave, no matter how much she knew it was the right thing to do. But maybe she could do something else. She could alter their... no. Will already had memory problems. She didn't want to make it worse. Not to mention the only way she knew she could erase memories was to call in Pandora, and this really was not something she could trust Liam's child with.

Jade chewed her lip as she sat down on her couch. "Stupid cannibal," she grumbled to herself. Why did he have to ruin her nice, quiet, yet boring, day. Oh well. At the moment she couldn't think of any real solution to the problem at hand. So she leaned forward and grabbed one of her new books from her coffee table. She then leaned back to get comfortable before proceeding to open the book. She was tired of thinking about everything that had happened. She was going to sit here and enjoy her book. Simple as that.


	11. The Telegram

Jade sat on her couch reading a book when she saw movement in the corner of her eyes, looking up from her book she noticed it was Liam. Rolling her eyes she went back to reading. She figured this would happen sooner or later. Liam was never one to stay away long. Hell she was surprised he had stayed away as long as he had.

"I received a telegram today," Liam said softly.

"And I should care why?" Jade asked dryly.

"You should care very much."

"How can I if you don't tell me what it says."

"Maybe you should read it for yourself."

She saw him move. Groaning she lowered her book and took the already open telegram from his hands. Pulling it out of the envelope she flipped the paper open.

"Let's see. Dear stupid head..."

"Jade..."

"What?"

"This is serious. Teacht ar, come on, keep reading."

"Ugh fine. Dear Liam, head of the O'Doherty family. It has come to our attention that..." She trailed off and sat up straight. Liam took the note from her then to finish the rest as she started off in space.

"It has come to our attention that two humans, residing in the area that you are currently living in, have found out about our existence. Furthermore they have not yet been put to death as the law mandates. In order to remedy the situation The Royals have decided it best to send in a clean up crew to take care of the matter. As you were not present during the vote your vote has been voided and anything you may or may not have to say on the matter will not be heard. We will be sending Royal De Rossi to overlook the clean up. We expect you and any vampires in your company to welcome and fully accommodate him. Formally, T_he Royal Families._"

"So father is coming into town..." Jade said softly. "No biggy." She shrugged it off and picked up her book again.

"No biggy? Jade this is the man that made you life a living hell before you left."

"I know Liam. I was there."

He ripped the book from her hands. "Jade this is the man who once _skinned_ you because you talked back to him. What do you think he is going to do to you because of _this_? About the fact that you broke vampire law, _his_ lege."

"Skin me again?"

"Jade!"

"I am sorry, Liam, but there isn't much we can do except wait until he gets here."

Liam flopped backwards on her couch, apparently giving up on trying to get her to care about this. She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his knee.

"Look, Liam, I understand what you are getting at. But that telegram is right. I allowed Will and Hannibal to find out our secret and then proceeded to do nothing about it. I should be punished. The most I can hope for is that he comes here, does what he does to me and then leaves without actually hurting Will or Hannibal."

He took his hand in hers for a moment before letting go. "You know no matter what he does to you I will be here. I will help you get through anything. And I will help you protect those daoine dúr too if you want."

She chuckled softly. "Stupid people huh? I guess it's a step up." She then grew serious. "The problem here isn't just my father. You and I can take care of him. The problem is the clean up crew. Unless they changed over the years the cleaners are some pretty ruthless vampires. They won't stop until Will and Hannibal are dead."

"I guess now is a bad time to say maybe I should go back to being more active with the Royals."

"Just a little bit." She picked up her book and then procceded to stretch her legs to where they were resting on Liam's lap. "Hey since you're down here..." She glanced at him over the book. She chuckled lightly as she heard him grumble followed by the feel of him rubbing her feet.

"How is that?"

"Perfect." She smiled.

They sat in silence for a long while, Jade reading her book and Liam rubbing her feet and legs, but it wasn't long before she closed her book and looked at him.

"You're thinking about him aren't you?" Liam asked.

"It's kind of hard not to. He is my father, but he did everything in his power to make my life hell. I am not sure I can go through that again." She felt something wet hit her cheek and was surprised when Liam leaned forward to wipe away the blood tear that had fallen.

"I will always be here for you. No matter what. I will protect you from him."

She snorted. "He is stronger than you are Liam. If he wants you out of the way you will be gone."

"Psh, we got this."

For some reason this made Jade laugh. She wasn't sure if it was because of what he actually said or if it was because she needed to release the emotion in her and it was either laugh or cry. She went with laugh. After a moment she settle back down into quietness again.

"Was it really that funny?"

"No, but your face is. Oh!" She pulled her legs away as he smacked them. "Alright you need to go. I can't read with you here."

"Aww come on..."

"Nope. Out." She then started to lightly kick him until he got off the couch.

"Fine fine. But call me if you see any sign of your father. Ok?"

"Promise."

He then kissed her on the forehead before leaving.


	12. Note

Due to the contents in the next chapter I will be raising the rating of the story from T to M. I am sorry if this is an inconvenience for anyone. The part in question will be done in italics, so when I post the chapter tomorrow and you don't think you will be able to handle it just skip the italics parts. After that everything should be smooth sailing for the rest of the story, but once I change the rating I will probably keep it there. So again I am sorry if this causes problems. But this is why I am giving everyone fair warning before I post the chapter tomorrow.

Have a nice day.

Hazel


	13. Jade's Past

**Note: Certain things that happen in this chapter may be hard for some to read, it talks about the skinning of someone. If you think that you might fall into that category just skip the part in italics.**

* * *

Jade had to admit that the news of her father coming to town shook her more than she thought possible. But she had been lucky in that she hadn't seen any sign of him in town yet. She just hoped that luck would continue. Maybe he wouldn't come after her at all... ya right. Who was she kidding. Her father took pleasure in torturing her. There was no way in hell he would pass up the chance to hurt her now. Especially for something like breaking vampire law.

Thinking about her father drew up old memories she had long hoped to forget, but that still sometimes plagued her nightmares. As she sat on her couch, her knees curled up to her chest, her mind traitorously dredged up horrid moments.

"_How many times have I told you to __**never **__speak to me like that when I have company over," he said coldly._

_"Tată, please..." Jade begged as crimson tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to pull her arms free from the bonds that held her, but it was no use. She had no strength so she wouldn't be able to break the chains no matter how hard she tried. She whimpered as she saw the blade glisten from the light hitting its smooth surface. She wanted to call out, to scream, but she had learned long ago that no one would come if she did. Her father always made sure of that. _

_She watched with fear as he walked over to her, the blade held firmly in his hand. When he was right in front of her she tried begging again. "Father..." But he just backhanded her. _

_She screamed out in pain as he cut a shallow line from her shoulder to her wrist, her hips to her ankle, and down the middle of her chest and back. Her screams did not stop there however, as her father then started to peel away her skin, using the blade to sever the membrane between her skin and muscles. He meticulously cut away her skin like one might expose the delicate flesh of a peach. The process took hours, as he removed every inch of skin from her body. Halfway through she had lost her voice from screaming, all she could do was cry and silently pray that it ended soon. When he finally did finish he placed the blade to the side._

"_Maybe next time you will remember your place." With that he turned on his heel and left. _

_Jade hung in mid air for some time after that, as the blood dripped from her skinless body. She was sure that this time she was going to die. That her father had finally had enough and was going to let her descend into the final death. But as she waited for death to come something happen. She soon found herself being dropped to the floor. The agony of her raw muscles against the ground was excruciating. She expected to hear her fathers voice say something cruel to her, but instead she was greeted by familiar blue eyes. Eyes that belonged to her longtime friend, and sometimes guardian angel, Liam._

Jade jerked back as she felt a hand on her cheek. She looked up to see Liam leaning over her couch.

"Which one was it this time?" he asked softly.

"When he skinned me."

He just nodded before coming around the couch to sit next to her. He pulled her into his arms as he held her tight.

"I will _never _let that happen again."

"I know, you said that before."

"That is because I mean it."

They were silent for a moment before Liam spoke up again.

"I saw the humans today. But they did not appear to have seen me."

"Ok."

"Have you told them yet what is going on?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Frankly, Will doesn't exactly remember and so telling would then be _telling_. And I don't want that. Hannibal is... well Hannibal."

"What does that even mean?"

"I have no clue. But if I find out I will let you know. Look I just don't want to put them in danger's way. We will take care of the cleaners, plain and simple."

"I just don't understand why you won't tell them."

She finally pulled away from him before turning to look directly at him."For someone that wanted to kill both of them you sure seem keen to help them out."

"Well yes, that is because _I_ want to kill them. Not some stupid Royal lackies."

"Lay off them, will ya."

"Alright, alright." He threw up his hands in surrender. "Come on." He stood up and held his hand for her to take. She raised an eyebrow. "If we want to win this fight we have to practice. You _know _the cleaners will have some kind of weapons, and lord only knows what your father will have."

She weighed that in her mind for a moment before taking his hand and getting off the couch.

"If we do this no whining or anything like that. I don't want to hear how you broke a nail, Liam."

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

"And yet you are not." She laughed.

"Oh! That hurt my feelings."

"You don't _have _feelings."

"Oh! There you go again!" He placed his hand over his heart.

"You certainly don't have a heart."

"I have one, it just isn't beating."

"Come on." She picked up a pillow and hit him with it. He was about to grab a pillow himself but she stopped him. "No, save your energy for the swords and such."

"You are just saying that because you know I would win."

"Oh as _if! _I can beat you hands down."

"Want to make a wager on that?"

"Yes, if I win you owe me. It doesn't matter what I ask, if I call in a favor you _have _to grant it."

"Hm... Alright, i I win you have to tell me what the deal is with that Hannibal guy."

"What do you mean?"

"I could smell him on you the other day. Something happened. Not to mention I know he is more than just a regular human. You don't care about humans like you do this man."

"Alright, fine. Deal." She held out her hand and he took it. Once they shook they then made their way down into her basement to train.


	14. Looking For Jade

Liam ran through the streets of Baltimore, as he looked for Jade. They were supposed to meet at a club in town but she never showed. So now he was running around, trying to find her. His naturally cold body felt tight as he moved through the streets at such speed that he was a blur to the human eye. He stopped in front of a bookstore and looked in the window. He was motionless, almost statuesque as his eyes scanned the people. When he saw no sign of Jade he became a blur again.

He made his way to her house and was annoyed to find her not there. He had half hoped that she had just stood him up, but it seemed it's something else. Of course there was the off chance that she had still stood him up, only instead of being home she was at one of the two human's house.

Turning he started running towards the first human's house: Will's. Jade had made the comment once that he lived in Wolf Trap, Virginia. If Jade wanted to get out of town that would be the best place to go. He was just glad that as a vampire the hour long trip it would take by car would be much shorter for him, even though he was running. It wasn't long before he was on the porch of Will's house, carefully looking in the window so that if Will was home he wouldn't see him. Of course that plan didn't work out too well because soon there were dogs barking. Hissing he backed away from the window.

"Damn câini. Almost as worthless as a werewolf." He then took off.

He had seen enough to know that Jade was not there. That just left one house. Moving with great speed he found that he was at Hannibal's house in no time. He tried to stand outside and see if he could see, smell, or even hear any sign of his sister but he was having no luck. He would have to go in. He silently made his way to the front door before opening it enough to slid in. Once he was in he could faintly smell blood, something that usually made him excited, but this time it made him a bit worried. He followed the smell of blood until he came across the dining room. Entering it he scanned the room but only saw the two humans.

"Where is my sister?" he asked abruptly.

"I have not seen her." Hannibal said as he turned to face him.

Liam just growled. "Dammit." He turned on his heels to leave but a voice stopped him.

"I think you should explain why you have barged into my house," Hannibal snapped.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Liam growled. He went to leave again, but again he was stopped.

"Is Jade ok?" Will asked.

"No you stupid humans! She is in danger! Her father is looking for her, all because of you."

"Why is it so horrible if her father finds her?" Hannibal asked.

"The fact that he raped her when she left the family comes to mind," he said dryly, looking away. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to keep looking for her."

"I want to help." Will stood up from the table then.

"No, he is here to kill you, by showing up you would just be making it easier on him."

"If he is here to kill us then all the more reason to seek him out before he strikes first," Hannibal said.

"Right, you can do that from here."

"Look we are coming, whether you like it or not." Will informed him.

Liam growled, he would have argued more but he had already wasted enough time.

"Fine, but if you slow me down.."

"We won't." Will nodded.

* * *

Jade was standing in a dark alley somewhere in the middle of Baltimore. She had been on her way to meet Liam when she had been cut off by a man. Even in the pitch blackness she knew who he was. She would always know who he was.

"Hello, Daddy," she said to him.

**The End**

* * *

**Note: Will Liam find Jade in time to protect her from her father? Do Hannibal and Will survive a fight with vampires? If so how will it effect their relationship with Jade and Liam? Find out in the next installment, The Thirst: First Taste.**


	15. End Note

For those you that have been patiently waiting for the next story to come out, I am pleased to tell you Chapter 1 of the third story in the Thirst series has been uploaded! So feel free to go over and check it out if you haven't yet.


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